1
韓丕，字太簡，華州鄭人。 父杲，晉開運中，為曲陽主簿，契丹攻城，陷沒焉。 母改適他氏。 丕幼孤貧，有志操，讀書於驪山、嵩陽，通《周易》、《禮記》，為人講說。 常有山林之志，家雖甚貧，處之晏如。 年長，始學文。 開寶中，鄭牧知文州，與之偕行，遂薄遊兩川。 及牧知成都，劉熙古延置門下，掌書奏，以孫女妻之。
Han Pi, courtesy name Taejian, was from Zheng in Hua Prefecture. His father Gao had been registrar of Quyang in the Kaiyun era of Jin; when the Khitans besieged the city, he was taken captive and never returned. His mother remarried elsewhere. Orphaned and poor from childhood, Pi nevertheless held firm principles. He studied at Lishan and Songyang, mastered the Book of Changes and the Book of Rites, and taught others by lecturing on the classics. He often yearned for a life in the hills, and though his family was desperately poor, he remained entirely at ease. He did not take up formal literary study until he was already grown. In the Kaibao era, when Zheng Mu was prefect of Wen, Pi accompanied him on his travels and so made a brief tour through the Two Shu. When Mu became prefect of Chengdu, Liu Xigu took Pi into his household to manage documents and memorials, and married him to his granddaughter.
2
太平興國三年舉進士，聲名籍甚，公卿多薦之者。 嘗著《孟母碑》、《返魯頌》，人多諷誦之。 解褐大理評事、通判衡州。 石熙載薦其文行，代還，以文學試中書，擢著作佐郎、直史館，賜緋魚。 未幾，改左拾遺。 八年，遷職方員外郎、知制誥。 雍熙初，加虞部郎中。 二年，與賈黃中、徐鉉同知貢舉。 丕屬思艱澀，及典書命，傷於稽緩。 宰相宋琪性褊急，常加督責，或申以諧謔，丕不能平。 又舍人王祐以前輩負氣，每陵轢面折之。 丕乃表求外郡，出知虢州，就改職方郎中。 端拱初，拜右諫議大夫，賜金紫，知河陽、濠州。
He passed the jinshi examination in the third year of Taiping Xingguo, and his reputation spread so widely that many high officials recommended him. He wrote such works as the Stele of Mencius's Mother and the Ode on Returning to Lu, which many people memorized and recited. On entering service he was appointed evaluator of the Court of Judicial Review and concurrent prefect of Heng Prefecture. Shi Xizai recommended him for his learning and conduct. When his tour ended and he returned to court, he passed the literary examination at the Secretariat and was promoted to assistant compiler with a concurrent post at the Historiography Institute, and received the crimson fish tally. Before long he was transferred to the post of Left Reminder. In the eighth year he was promoted to vice director of the Bureau of Military Appointments and given charge of drafting imperial edicts. At the opening of the Yongxi era he was additionally appointed director of the Bureau of Parks and Forests. In the second year he served with Jia Huangzhong and Xu Xuan as co-supervisor of the civil examinations. Pi composed with difficulty, and once he was charged with drafting edicts, his work suffered from excessive slowness. Chief Minister Song Qi was narrow and impatient by nature and often pressed and scolded him, sometimes dressing his rebukes in jest; Pi could not bear it in peace. The Attendant Gentleman Wang You, as his senior, was proud and overbearing and often humiliated him with open rebukes. Pi then petitioned for an appointment outside the capital, became prefect of Guo, and at the same time was promoted to director of the Bureau of Military Appointments. At the opening of the Duangong era he was appointed Right Remonstrance Grandee, granted gold and purple insignia, and made prefect of Heyang and Hao.
3
丕起寒素，以沖澹自處，不奔競於名宦，太宗甚嘉重之。 淳化二年，召入為翰林學士，終以遲鈍不敏於用。 俄罷職，充集賢殿修撰、知均州。 就遷給事中、工部侍郎，徙金州。 召還，充史館修撰，又出知滁州，就加禮部。 大中祥符二年，卒。
Pi came from humble origins, lived with quiet detachment, and never scrambled for rank or office; Taizong greatly prized him for it. In the second year of Chunhua he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy, but in the end his slowness left him ill suited to court duties. Before long he was dismissed and appointed compiler at the Hall of Assembled Worthies and prefect of Jun. He was then promoted to Supervising Secretary and vice minister of Works, and transferred to Jin Prefecture. Recalled to court, he served as compiler at the Historiography Institute, then went out again as prefect of Chu and was at the same time promoted to vice minister of Rites. He died in the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu.
4
丕純厚畏慎，似不能言者。 歷典州郡，雖不優於吏事，能以清介自持，時稱其長者云。
Pi was pure-hearted, cautious, and reserved, almost as if he could not speak at all. Though he was not especially skilled in administrative affairs during his terms as prefect, he upheld himself with purity and integrity, and his contemporaries praised him as a man of mature virtue.
5
師頏，字霄遠，大名內黃人。 父均，後唐長興二年進士，終永興節度判官，因家關右。 頏少篤學，與兄頌齊名。 建隆二年舉進士，竇儀典貢舉，擢之上第。 釋褐耀州軍事推官，以疾解，久不赴調。 開寶中，復為解州推官。 太平興國初，召還，遷大理寺丞、陝西河北轉運判官，就改著作佐郎。 秩滿，遷監察御史、通判永興軍府。 坐秦王廷美假公帑緡錢，左授乾州團練副使，尋復舊官。 六年，改殿中侍御史、通判邠州。 徙知簡州，轉起居舍人。 以公累去官，復為殿中侍御史，知資、眉二州。 頏所至，以簡靜為治，蜀人便之。 代還，遷侍御史、知安州，賜緡錢二十萬。 移朗州，超拜工部郎中，命知陝州，賜金紫。
Shi Hang, courtesy name Xiaoyuan, was from Neihuang in Daming. His father Jun passed the jinshi in the second year of Changxing of Later Tang and ended his career as assessor to the military commissioner of Yongxing; the family then settled in the Guanxi region. From youth Hang studied with deep devotion and shared equal fame with his elder brother Song. He took the jinshi examination in the second year of Jianlong; Dou Yi presided over the examinations and placed him at the top of the list. On entering service he was appointed investigating clerk for military affairs of Yao Prefecture, but resigned because of illness and for a long time did not report for a new assignment. During the Kaibao era he again served as investigating clerk of Jie Prefecture. At the beginning of Taiping Xingguo he was recalled, promoted to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review and transport-assessor for Shaanxi and Hebei, and at the same time appointed assistant compiler. When his term ended he was promoted to investigating censor and concurrent prefect of the Yongxing military prefecture. He was implicated in Prince of Qin Tingmei's borrowing of public funds, demoted to vice commissioner of military training at Qian, and soon restored to his former rank. In the sixth year he was transferred to palace attendant censor and concurrent prefect of Bin. He was transferred to prefect of Jian and then promoted to Recorder of the Emperor's Movements. After leaving office because of public entanglement, he again became palace attendant censor and governed Zi and Mei. Wherever he served, Hang governed with simplicity and restraint, to the great convenience of the people of Shu. When his successor arrived he was promoted to attendant censor and appointed prefect of An, and was granted two hundred thousand strings of cash. Transferred to Lang, he was promoted by special order to director of the Ministry of Works, appointed prefect of Shan, and granted gold and purple insignia.
6
時西鄙用兵，餫道所出，軍士多亡命，嘯聚山林為盜。 頏嚴其巡捕，盜越他境。 改刑部郎中，未幾召還。 真宗以其舊人，素負才望，而久次於外，累召對，詢其文章。 頏謙遜自晦，上益嘉之。 翌日，命以本官知制誥，兼史館修撰。 咸平二年，與溫仲舒、張詠同知貢舉。 明年，召入翰林為學士。 五年，復與陳恕同典貢部，又知審官院、通進銀臺封駁司。 俄卒，年六十七。 詔遣官護葬，給其子仲回秘書丞奉終喪。
War was then raging on the western frontier; along the supply routes many soldiers deserted and banded together in the hills as robbers. Hang tightened patrols and arrests so severely that the bandits fled into neighboring jurisdictions. He was transferred to director of the Ministry of Punishments, and before long was recalled to court. Zhenzong knew him as an old acquaintance of long-standing literary reputation who had spent many years in the provinces; he repeatedly summoned Hang for audience and questioned him about his writings. Hang answered with modest reserve, and the emperor prized him all the more. The next day he was ordered to draft imperial edicts in his present rank and concurrently to serve as compiler at the Historiography Institute. In the second year of Xianping he served with Wen Zhongshu and Zhang Yong as co-supervisor of the civil examinations. The following year he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy as academician. In the fifth year he again presided over the examination bureau with Chen Shu, and also directed the Bureau for Review of Appointments and the offices for transmission and memorial review. He died soon afterward, at the age of sixty-seven. The court ordered officials to escort the funeral and appointed his son Zhonghui secretary director so that he could observe the full mourning period.
7
頏曠達夷雅，搢紳多慕其操尚。 有集十卷。 子三人：仲回，端拱元年進士及第，至太常博士； 仲宰，國子博士； 仲說，殿中丞。
Hang was broad-minded and refined in spirit, and many officials admired his character. His collected works ran to ten juan. He had three sons: Zhonghui, who passed the jinshi in the first year of Duangong and rose to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Zhongzai, erudite of the Directorate of Education; and Zhongshuo, director within the palace.
8
張茂直
Zhang Maozhi
9
張茂直，字林宗，兗州瑕丘人。 父延昇，以經術教授鄉里。 茂直方弱冠，慕容彥超據州城，驅之守陴。 及周師破敵，擁城守者列坐，將斬之。 有卒挾刃謂茂直曰：「汝髮甚鬒，惜為頸血所汙，可先斷之。」 茂直許焉。 刃未及髮，會得釋。 後勵志於學。
Zhang Maozhi, courtesy name Linzong, was from Xiaqiu in Yan Prefecture. His father Yansheng taught the classics in their home district. While Maozhi was still in his early twenties, Murong Yanchao seized the prefectural city and forced him to help defend the walls. When the Zhou army broke the enemy, the defenders were lined up to be executed. A soldier seized a blade and said to Maozhi, "Your hair is very black; it would be a pity for your neck blood to stain it—you may cut it off first." Maozhi agreed. The blade had not yet touched his hair when, by chance, he was released. Afterward he devoted himself wholeheartedly to learning.
10
開寶中，州將器其為人，首薦之，且給錢五萬，以助其裝。 二年，登進士第，解褐海州推官，進司農寺丞、通判泰州。 為轉運使韋務昇誣奏，徙監梓州富國監。 代還，自陳得雪。 復通判靜安軍。 軍不領縣，城之外，即深州之下博，茂直奏割下博隸焉。 進秩著作佐郎。 扈蒙薦其才，改秘書丞。
During the Kaibao era the prefectural commander admired his character, was the first to recommend him, and gave him fifty thousand cash toward his traveling expenses. In the second year he passed the jinshi examination, entered service as investigating clerk of Hai Prefecture, and was promoted to vice director of the Court of the Imperial Granaries and concurrent prefect of Tai. Transport Commissioner Wei Wusheng lodged a false accusation against him, and he was transferred to supervise the Fuguo depot at Zi Prefecture. When his successor arrived he petitioned in his own defense and was cleared of the charge. He again served as concurrent prefect of the Jing'an army. The army had no county under its jurisdiction; beyond the city wall lay Xiabo in Shen Prefecture, and Maozhi petitioned to have Xiabo placed under the army's administration. He was promoted to assistant compiler. Hu Meng recommended his talent, and he was appointed secretary director.
11
會福州民訟田，命茂直按之，將行，留不遣。 參知政事李至稱其端實，命入益王元傑府為記室參軍。 王好學，多為詩什，遇茂直甚厚。 雖受時果之賜，亦分餉焉。 王嘗遣使徵詩，茂直援筆而就，甚稱賞之。
When the people of Fuzhou were litigating over land, Maozhi was ordered to investigate; he was about to depart when the court detained him and did not send him. Vice Grand Councilor Li Zhi praised his integrity and had him appointed recorder in the household of Prince of Yi Yuanjie. The prince loved learning and often wrote poetry; he treated Maozhi with great favor. Even when he received seasonal fruit as gifts from the prince, he shared them with others. The prince once sent a messenger to request a poem; Maozhi took up his brush and finished at once, and the prince greatly admired him for it.
12
茂直淳至寡言，晚年多疾，才思梗澀不稱職。 改秘書少監，出知潁州。 咸平四年，卒，年七十五。 子：成列，端拱二年進士及第； 成務，比部員外郎。
Maozhi was sincere and sparing of speech; in his later years he suffered frequent illness, and his literary powers grew stiff and sluggish so that he no longer suited his post. He was transferred to vice director of the Secretariat and appointed prefect of Ying. He died in the fourth year of Xianping, at the age of seventy-five. His sons were Chenglie, who passed the jinshi in the second year of Duangong; and Chengwu, vice director of the Bureau of Review.
13
梁顥，字太素，鄆州須城人。 曾祖涓，成武主簿。 祖惟忠，以明經歷佐使府，至天平軍節度判官。 父文度早世，顥養於叔父。 王禹偁始與鄉貢，顥依以為學，嘗以疑義質於禹偁，禹偁拒之不答。 顥發憤讀書，不期月，復有所質，禹偁大加器賞。 初舉進士，不中第，留闕下。 獻疏曰：
Liang Hao, courtesy name Taisu, was from Xucheng in Yan Prefecture. His great-grandfather Juan served as registrar of Chengwu. His grandfather Weizhong passed the classics examination and served in successive staff posts of military commissioners, rising to assessor of the Tianping army. His father Wendu died young, and Hao was raised by his uncle. When Wang Yucheng first sat for the provincial examination, Hao studied under him and once asked Wang about points he found difficult; Wang refused to answer. Stung to anger, Hao threw himself into his books; in less than a month he returned with new questions, and Wang Yucheng greatly admired him. On his first attempt at the jinshi examination he failed and remained at the capital. He submitted a memorial that read:
14
「臣歷觀史籍，唐氏之御天下也，列聖間出，人文闡燿，尚且渴於共治，旁求多彥，設科之選，逾四十等。 當時秉筆之士，彬彬翔集，表著所以。 左右前後，有忠有良，導化原、樹治本者，享三百年，得人之由也。
"Your subject has reviewed the histories: when the Tang ruled the realm, sage emperors arose in succession and culture flourished brilliantly, yet they still yearned for shared governance, sought talent far and wide, and established examination categories numbering more than forty. Men of letters then gathered in refined abundance, and their achievements were recorded for all to see. On every side were loyal and capable men who guided civilization at its source and planted good governance at its root; the dynasty endured three hundred years because it knew how to win such men.
15
五代不競，茲制日淪。 國家興儒，追風三代。 方今科名之設，俊造畢臻，秉筆者如林，趨選者如雲。 貢於諸侯，考於春官，陛下躬臨慎擇，必盡至公。 奈何所取不出於詩賦、策論，簡於心者援而陟之，咈於心者推而黜之，寧無濫陟枉黜之失耶？ 其間闒茸妄進，濫廁科場者，間亦有之。
The Five Dynasties could not compete, and this institution fell further each day. Our dynasty has revived Confucian learning and seeks to follow the example of the Three Dynasties. Today, with examination titles established, outstanding candidates gather from every quarter; men of letters crowd the halls like trees in a forest, and aspirants press toward selection like clouds in the sky. Candidates are presented through the provinces, examined by the Ministry of Rites, and Your Majesty personally oversees the careful selection, surely with the utmost fairness. Yet selection rests not on poetry, rhapsodies, policy essays, and discourses alone; those who please the examiner are pulled up, while those who displease him are pushed aside—can there be no error of reckless promotion and wrongful dismissal? Among them, too, are at times unworthy men who advance rashly and crowd into the examination hall without warrant.
16
若曰陛下嘉惠孤寒沉滯之士，罔計賢否，悉拔而登之，一視同仁。 臣竊謂此非確論。 蓋聖人在上，則內君子而外小人。 若薰蕕同器，甚非所以正人倫、淳風俗也。 況丘園之下，豈無宏才茂德之士。 陛下誠能設科以擢異等之士，俾陳古今之治亂、君臣之得失、生民之休戚、賢愚之用舍，庶幾有益於治，不特詩賦、論策之小技，以應有司之求而已。」
Some say Your Majesty favors the poor and long-neglected scholars, without regard to merit, elevating them all alike— your subject respectfully submits that this is not sound doctrine. When a sage rules above, he keeps gentlemen close and petty men at a distance. To mix the fragrant with the foul in one vessel is far from the way to rectify human relations and purify custom. Moreover, among those living in seclusion, are there not men of great talent and flourishing virtue? If Your Majesty would truly establish an examination to raise men of extraordinary talent, having them address the order and disorder of past and present, the successes and failures of rulers and ministers, the welfare and suffering of the people, and the employment and dismissal of the worthy and the foolish, then governance might truly benefit—not merely the minor skills of poetry and policy essays to satisfy the examining officials."
17
疏上，不報。
He submitted the memorial, but received no reply.
18
雍熙二年，復舉進士，廷試，方禹中獻賦。 太宗召升殿，詢其門第，賜甲科，解褐大名府觀察推官。 四年，與梁湛並召為右拾遺、直史館，賜緋。 判鼓司、登聞院。 顥在大名佐趙昌言。 昌言入掌樞密，會翟馬周事，顥坐貶虢州司戶參軍。 起知魚臺縣，就加大理評事。 召還，遷殿中丞。 頃之，復直史館，歷開封府推官、三司關西道判官，轉太常博士，丁內艱，起令赴職，改右司諫。
In the second year of Yongxi he again sat for the jinshi examination; at the palace examination Fang Yu was presenting his rhapsody. Taizong summoned him to the hall, inquired about his family background, granted him the top grade, and on entering service appointed him investigating clerk of the Daming observation commission. In the fourth year he and Liang Zhan were summoned together as Right Reminder with a concurrent post at the Historiography Institute, and granted crimson robes. He served as judge of the Drum Office and the Court of Imperial Audience. At Daming, Hao served as assistant to Zhao Changyan. When Changyan entered the Bureau of Military Affairs, the Zhai Ma Zhou affair broke out and Hao was implicated and demoted to revenue adjutant of Guo Prefecture. He was reappointed magistrate of Yutai County and at the same time promoted to evaluator of the Court of Judicial Review. Recalled to court, he was promoted to director within the palace. Before long he was again attached to the Historiography Institute, served as investigating clerk of Kaifeng and transport-assessor on the Guanxi circuit of the Three Departments, and was promoted to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. After mourning his mother he was recalled to duty and appointed remonstrance officer of the Right Bureau.
19
真宗初，詔群臣言事，顥時使陝西，途中作《聽政箴》以獻。 還為度支判官。 咸平元年，與楊勵、李若拙、朱台符同知貢舉。 時詔錢若水重修《太祖實錄》，表顥參其事，又同修起居注。 扈蹕大名，詔訪群臣邊事，顥上疏曰：
At the beginning of Zhenzong's reign the court ordered ministers to speak freely on state affairs; Hao was then on mission to Shaanxi and composed the Admonition on Hearing Government on the road to present to the throne. On his return he was appointed revenue-assessor. In the first year of Xianping he served with Yang Li, Li Ruozhuo, and Zhu Taifu as co-supervisor of the civil examinations. The court then ordered Qian Ruoshui to revise the Veritable Records of Taizu; Hao was nominated to assist and also helped compile the Records of the Emperor's Movements. While escorting the imperial carriage at Daming, the emperor sought the ministers' views on frontier affairs; Hao submitted a memorial that read:
20
「臣聞自古用兵之道，在乎明賞罰而已。 然而賞不可以獨任，罰不可以少失。 故《兵法》曰：『罰之不行，譬如驕子之不可用。』 又曰：『善為將者，威振敵國，令行三軍。 盡忠益時者，雖仇必賞； 犯法敗事者，雖親必罰。』 故孫武斬隊長而兵皆整，穰苴斬監軍而敵遂退。 以此言之，兵法不可不正也。
"Your subject has heard that since antiquity the art of war has rested on making rewards and punishments clear. Yet rewards cannot be dispensed alone, and punishments cannot suffer the slightest lapse. Thus the Art of War says: 'When punishments are not enforced, it is like a spoiled child who cannot be used.' It also says: 'A capable general makes his authority shake enemy states and his orders prevail throughout the three armies. Those who serve with full loyalty, though they be enemies, must be rewarded; and those who break the law and ruin affairs, though they be kin, must be punished.' Thus Sun Wu beheaded a company commander and his troops fell into perfect order; Rang Ju beheaded an army supervisor and the enemy withdrew. From this it follows that military law must be enforced with strict justice.
21
昨者命將出師，乘秋備塞，而傅潛奉明詔，握重兵，逗撓無謀，守陴玩寇，老精兵於不用。 以至蕃馬南牧，邊塵晝驚，河朔之民，流移失所，魏博以北，蹂踐一空。 遂至殘妖未殄，鑾輅親征，此所謂以賊遺君父者也。 乃或赦而不問，則何以謝橫死之民； 或黜而不戮，則何以恢用兵之略。 以軍法論之，固合斬潛以徇軍中，降詔以示天下。 如此，則協前古之典章，戒後來之將帥，然後擇邊臣之可用者，就委用之。
Recently generals were sent to take the field in autumn to secure the frontier, yet Fu Qian, though he held the emperor's clear command and heavy forces, dallied without plan, held the walls and toyed with the enemy, and let his best troops grow stale from disuse. The result was that barbarian horses ranged southward, frontier alarms rose by day, the people of Heshuo were driven from their homes, and the country north of Weibo was trampled utterly bare. It reached the point that the rebels were not destroyed and the emperor himself took the field—this is what is meant by leaving the enemy as a burden upon one's sovereign and father. If he is now pardoned and not held to account, how can the court answer to the people who died by violence; or if he is dismissed but not executed, how can the strategy of war be restored? By military law he should be beheaded to display discipline in the army, and an edict issued to show the whole realm. In this way the court would accord with the statutes of antiquity, warn future commanders, and then select capable frontier officials and commission them.
22
臣嘗讀漢史，李廣之屯兵行師也，無部伍行陣，就善水草，人人自便，不擊刁斗以自衛，遠於斥候，未嘗遇害，而廣終為名將，士卒樂用。 又唐高祖之備北邊也，選頸兵為遊騎，不齎軍糧，隨逐水草，遇敵則殺，當時以為得策。 願於邊將中，不以名位高卑，但擇其武勇謀略素為眾所推服者，取十人焉。 人付騎士五十，器甲完備，輕齎糧糗，逐水草以為利，往復扞禦。 不令入郡邑，不許聚處，遇有寇兵，隨時掩捕。 仍令烽候相望，交相救應。 緣邊州郡守城兵帥，即堅壁以待之。 遇遊騎近城，掩殺邊寇，內量出兵甲援救。 如此，則乘城者不堅閉壘門，免坐觀於勝負； 捍邊者不苟依郡郭，可行備於寇攘。 雖匪良籌，且殊膠柱。」
Your subject has read in the Han histories that when Li Guang encamped and marched, he kept no formal companies or battle lines, sought good pasture and water, let each man find his own comfort, did not sound the watch-clappers for self-defense, and kept scouts far afield—yet he never suffered harm, became a famed general, and his men were glad to follow him. When Tang Gaozu prepared the northern frontier, he selected elite troops as roaming cavalry who carried no army grain, followed grass and water, and struck the enemy when they met—at the time this was considered an excellent strategy. I ask that among frontier generals, without regard to rank, ten men be chosen whose martial valor and strategic ability have long won the respect of the troops. Give each man fifty horsemen with complete arms and armor, light provisions, and orders to follow grass and water and ride back and forth to defend the frontier. Do not let them enter towns or gather in one place; when raiders appear, strike and capture them at once. Further, let beacon posts face one another so that they can rescue and support each other. The frontier prefectures and their garrison commanders should hold their walls firm and wait. When roaming cavalry approach a city, they should strike the raiders, and the garrison should send out troops as needed to support them. In this way the defenders need not shut their gates tight and sit idle watching the outcome of battle; and the frontier defenders need not cling passively to the walls but can take active measures against raiders. Though this may not be the finest plan, it is still far better than rigid inflexibility."
23
時論頗稱之。
Contemporary opinion greatly praised the memorial.
24
三年，與李宗諤、趙安仁並命知制誥，賜金紫，是年冬，王均平，命為峽路安撫使。 歸掌三班。 韓國華判大理，以斷刑失中，乃選顥以代之。 四年，張齊賢使關右安撫，以顥為之副。
In the third year he and Li Zong'e and Zhao Anren were appointed together to draft imperial edicts and granted gold and purple insignia. That winter, after Wang Jun's rebellion was pacified, Hao was appointed pacification commissioner of the Xia circuit. On his return he took charge of the Three Classes. Han Guohua presided over the Court of Judicial Review but his criminal judgments were faulty, so Hao was chosen to replace him. In the fourth year Zhang Qixian was sent to pacify Guanxi, with Hao as his deputy.
25
顥有吏才，每進對，詞辯明敏，真宗嘉賞之。 凡群臣上封者，悉付顥洎薛映詳閱可否。 冬，以河北饑盜，命與映分為東、西路巡檢使。 還，拜右諫議大夫，充戶部使。 會罷三部使，以顥為翰林學士同知審官院、三班。 景德元年，權知開封。
Hao had a gift for administration; whenever he appeared before the throne his replies were clear and keen, and Zhenzong greatly admired him. All sealed memorials from the ministers were handed to Hao and Xue Ying to review for approval or rejection. That winter, because of famine and banditry in Hebei, he and Ying were appointed inspection commissioners for the eastern and western routes respectively. On his return he was appointed Right Remonstrance Grandee and commissioner of the Households Bureau. When the three department commissioners were abolished, Hao was appointed Hanlin academician with concurrent charge of the Bureau for Review of Appointments and the Three Classes. In the first year of Jingde he served as acting prefect of Kaifeng.
26
顥美風姿，強力少疾，閨門雍睦。 與人交久而無改，士大夫多之。 六月，暴病卒，年九十二。 上甚軫惻，賜贈加等。 所著文集十五卷。
Hao had a fine presence, was strong and vigorous and seldom fell ill, and his household was harmonious. In friendship he was steadfast over long years, and many scholar-officials esteemed him. In the sixth month he died suddenly of illness, at the age of ninety-two. The emperor was deeply grieved and granted posthumous honors of added rank. His collected writings ran to fifteen juan.
27
子：固、述、適。 適相仁宗，別有傳。
His sons were Gu, Shu, and Shi. Shi became chief minister to Emperor Renzong and has a separate biography.
28
子固
Son: Gu
29
固，字仲堅。 幼有志節，嘗著《漢春秋》，顥器賞之。 初，以顥遺蔭，賜進士出身。 服闋，詣登聞院讓前命，願赴鄉舉，許之。 大中祥符元年，舉服勤詞學科，擢甲第。 解褐將作監丞、同判密州，就遷著作佐郎。 歸朝，改著作郎、直史館，賜緋。 歷戶部判官、判戶部勾院。
Gu, courtesy name Zhongjian. From youth he showed resolve and integrity; he wrote the Spring and Autumn of Han, which his father greatly admired. At first, through his father's posthumous privilege, he was granted jinshi status. When his mourning ended he went to the Court of Imperial Audience to decline the prior appointment and asked to sit for the provincial examination; the court granted his request. In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu he took the special examination in diligent service and literary studies and placed at the top of the list. On entering service he was appointed vice director of the Directorate of Works and concurrent judge of Mi Prefecture, and at the same time promoted to assistant compiler. On returning to court he was appointed compiler with a concurrent post at the Historiography Institute and granted crimson robes. He served as revenue-assessor of the Households Ministry and judge of the Households Ministry audit office.
30
為人氣調俊爽，善與人交，疏財慷慨，尚氣義，明於吏道。 馬元方領三司，臨事粗率，固摭其曠闕之狀，屢請對條奏。 嘗詔鞠獄，時稱平審。 天禧大禮成，奏頌甚工。 無幾卒，年三十三。 有集十卷。
He was spirited and open in manner, skilled in friendship, generous with wealth, devoted to integrity, and clear-sighted in administrative affairs. Ma Yuanfang directed the Three Departments but was coarse and careless in affairs; Gu collected accounts of his neglects and repeatedly requested audience to present them in detail. He was once ordered by edict to try cases, and his contemporaries praised his judgments as fair and thorough. When the great rites of Tianxi were completed, the eulogy he submitted was highly accomplished. He died soon afterward, at the age of thirty-three. His collected works ran to ten juan.
31
楊徽之
Yang Huizhi
32
楊徽之，字仲猷，建州浦城人。 祖郜，仕閩為義軍校。 家世尚武，父澄獨折節為儒，終浦城令。 徽之幼刻苦為學，邑人江文蔚善賦，江為能詩，徽之與之遊從，遂與齊名。 嘗肄業於潯陽廬山，時李氏據有江表，乃潛服至汴、洛，以文投竇儀、王朴，深賞遇之。
Yang Huizhi, courtesy name Zhongyou, was from Pucheng in Jian Prefecture. His grandfather Gao served Min as an officer of the righteous army. The family had for generations honored martial pursuits; his father Cheng alone turned to Confucian learning and ended his career as magistrate of Pucheng. From youth Huizhi studied with bitter diligence. His townsman Jiang Wenwei excelled at rhapsodies and Jiang Wei at poetry; Huizhi associated with them and soon shared equal fame. He once studied at Lushan in Xunyang. When the Li regime held the lands south of the Yangtze, he secretly traveled to Bian and Luoyang, presented his writings to Dou Yi and Wang Pu, and won their deep admiration.
33
周顯德中，舉進士，劉溫叟知貢部，中甲科。 同時登第者十六人，世宗命覆試，惟徽之與李覃、何嚴、趙鄰幾中選。 解褐校書郎、集賢校理。 宰相范質深器重之。 歷著作佐郎、右拾遺。 竇儼纂禮樂書，徽之預焉。
During the Xiande era of Zhou he took the jinshi examination; Liu Wensou presided over the examinations, and Huizhi placed in the top grade. Sixteen men passed at the same time; Emperor Shizong ordered a re-examination, and only Huizhi, Li Tan, He Yan, and Zhao Linji were selected. On entering service he was appointed proofreader and collator at the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Chief Minister Fan Zhi greatly valued and relied on him. He served as assistant compiler and Right Reminder. When Dou Yan compiled the book on rites and music, Huizhi took part in the work.
34
乾德初，與鄭玘並出為天興令，府帥王彥超素知其名，待以賓禮。 蜀平，移峨眉令。 時宋白宰玉津，多以吟詠酬答。 復為著作佐郎、知全州，就遷左拾遺、右補闕。 太平興國初，代還。 太宗素聞其詩名，因索所著。 徽之以數百篇奏御，且獻詩為謝，其卒章有「十年流落今何幸，叨遇君王問姓名」語。 太宗覽之稱賞，自是聖製多以別本為賜。 遷侍御史、權判刑部。 嘗屬疾，遣尚醫診療，賜錢三十萬。 轉庫部員外郎，賜金紫，判南曹，同知京朝官差遣。 會詔李昉等采緝前代文字，類為《文苑英華》，以徽之精於風雅，分命編詩，為百八十卷。 歷遷刑、兵二部郎中。 獻《雍熙詞》，上賡其韻以賜。
At the beginning of Qiande he and Zheng Qi were sent out together as magistrates of Tianxing; the prefectural commander Wang Yanchao had long known his reputation and treated him as an honored guest. After Shu was pacified he was transferred to magistrate of Emei. At the time Song Bai governed Yujin, and the two often exchanged poems. He again became assistant compiler and prefect of Quan, and at the same time was promoted to Left Reminder and Right Supplementation Censor. In the early Taiping Xingguo era, he returned after completing his tour of duty. Emperor Taizong had long known of his reputation as a poet and asked to see his writings. Huizhi submitted several hundred poems to the throne and also offered a poem of thanks whose closing lines read, "Ten years in wandering exile—what luck today that the king asks my name." Emperor Taizong read them with praise, and thereafter often granted him duplicate copies of his own imperial compositions. He was promoted to attending censor and acting judge of the Ministry of Justice. When he once fell ill, the court sent an imperial physician to treat him and granted him three hundred thousand cash. He became outer bureau director of the Treasury Ministry, was granted gold-and-purple insignia, served as judge of the Southern Bureau, and was appointed co-director of assignments for capital officials. When Li Fang and others were ordered to collect texts of earlier dynasties for the Wen yuan ying hua, Huizhi's mastery of literary refinement earned him charge of the poetry section, which ran to one hundred and eighty juan. He successively served as bureau director in both the Ministries of Justice and War. He submitted the Yongxi Ci, and the emperor continued the rhyme in reply and granted it to him as a gift.
35
端拱初，拜左諫議大夫，出知許州。 入判史館事，加修撰。 因次對上言，曰：「自陛下嗣統鴻圖，闡揚文治，廢墜修舉，儒學響臻，乃至周岩野以聘隱淪，盛科選以來才彥，取士之道，亦已至矣。 然擅文章者多超遷，明經業者罕殊用，向非振舉，曷勸專勤，師法不傳，祖述安在！ 且京師四方之會，太學首善之地。 今五經博士，並闕其員，非所以崇教化、獎人材、繇內及外之道也。 伏望浚發明詔，博求通經之士，簡之朝著，拔自草萊，增置員數，分教胄子，隨其所業，授以本官，廩稍且優，旌別斯在。 淹貫之士，既蒙厚賞，則天下善類知所勸矣，無使唐、漢專稱得人。」 太宗嘉納之，顧謂宰相曰：「徽之儒雅，操履無玷，置於館閣宜矣。」 未幾，改判集賢院。 嘗詔預觀燈乾元樓，上嘉其精力不衰。
At the beginning of Duangong he was appointed Left Remonstrance Grandee and sent out to serve as prefect of Xuzhou. He returned to the capital to direct the History Office and was additionally appointed compiler. Taking advantage of a subsequent audience he addressed the emperor, saying: "Since Your Majesty succeeded to the great design, extended civil governance, restored what had fallen into neglect, and brought Confucian learning ringing in response—even to the point of searching cliff and field to invite the hidden and obscure, and magnifying the examination system to draw in men of talent—the way of selecting scholars has already reached its fullness. Yet those skilled in literary composition are often promoted beyond measure, while those devoted to the classics are rarely given distinctive employment. If we do not raise them up and recommend them, how shall we encourage single-minded diligence? If the master's teaching is not transmitted, where shall the inheritance of the ancients be! Moreover the capital is where all four directions converge, and the Imperial Academy is the foremost seat of learning. Now the Five Classics doctorate posts all stand vacant—this is not the way to exalt instruction, reward talent, or extend influence from within to without. I humbly hope Your Majesty will issue a clarifying edict, broadly seek men thoroughly versed in the classics, select them at court, pluck them from humble origins, increase the number of posts, assign them to teach the imperial clansmen according to their specialties, grant them their proper official titles, provide generous stipends, and thereby distinguish and honor them. When thoroughly accomplished scholars receive generous rewards, all worthy men under heaven will know what to strive for—do not let Tang and Han alone be praised for obtaining talent." Emperor Taizong praised and accepted the memorial, and turning to the chief ministers said, "Huizhi is refined and cultivated, his conduct without blemish—it is fitting to place him in the Hall of Assembled Worthies." Before long he was transferred to direct the Hall of Worthies. Once by edict he was invited to watch the lanterns at Qianyuan Tower; the emperor commended that his vigor had not waned.
36
時劉昌言拔自下位，不逾時參掌機務，懼無以厭人望，常求自安之計。 董儼為右計使，欲傾昌言代之，嘗謂徽之曰：「上遇張洎、錢若水甚厚，旦夕將大用。」 有直史館錢熙者，與昌言厚善，詣徽之，徽之語次及之。 熙遽以告昌言，昌言以告洎。 洎方固寵，謂徽之遣熙構飛語中傷己，遂白上。 上怒，召昌言質其語。 出徽之為山南東道行軍司馬，熙落職通判朗州。 徽之未行，改鎮安軍行軍司馬。
At that time Liu Changyan had been pulled up from low rank and within no time shared in core affairs of state; fearing he could not satisfy public expectation, he constantly sought some plan to secure himself. Dong Yan served as Right Fiscal Commissioner and wished to overturn Changyan and replace him; he once said to Huizhi, "The emperor treats Zhang Zhi and Qian Ruoshui with great favor—they will soon be greatly employed." Qian Xi, who held direct appointment in the History Office, was on close terms with Changyan; he visited Huizhi, and in the course of conversation Huizhi mentioned this. Xi immediately told Changyan, and Changyan told Zhi. Zhi was then securing imperial favor and believed Huizhi had sent Xi to fabricate slanderous rumors to injure him, and so reported this to the emperor. The emperor grew angry and summoned Changyan to verify the words. Huizhi was sent out as military aide of the Shan'nandong Circuit; Xi was stripped of office and made supervisory commissioner of Langzhou. Before Huizhi departed he was reassigned as military aide of Zhen'an Army.
37
真宗尹京，妙選僚佐，驛召為左諫議大夫，與畢士安並充開封府判官，召對便殿，諭以輔導意。 東宮建屬，以徽之兼左庶子。 嘗出巡田，真宗作詩言懷，因以寄之。 遷給事中。 即位，拜工部侍郎、樞密直學士，俄兼秘書監。 咸平初，加禮部侍郎。 二年春，以衰疾求解近職，改兵部，仍兼秘書監，入謝，命坐，勞之曰：「圖書之府，清淨無事，俾卿得以養性也。」 是秋，特置翰林侍讀學士，命與夏侯嶠、呂文仲並為之，賜宴秘閣，且褒以詩。
When Zhenzong held charge of the capital, he carefully selected aides; Huizhi was summoned by post horse as Left Remonstrance Grandee and, together with Bi Shi'an, appointed judge of Kaifeng Prefecture; summoned to audience in the Informal Hall, he was instructed in the intent of guidance and instruction. When the Eastern Palace was established with its staff, Huizhi was made concurrent Left Assistant to the Heir Apparent. Once when he went out on an inspection tour of the fields, Zhenzong composed a poem voicing his feelings and sent it to him. He was promoted to supervising censor. Upon accession he was appointed Vice Minister of Works, direct academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and soon also Director of the Secretariat. At the beginning of Xianping he was given the additional title of Vice Minister of Rites. In the second year, spring, citing age and illness he requested relief from a proximate office; he was transferred to the Ministry of War while still holding the Secretariat directorship; entering to give thanks, he was ordered to sit; the emperor comforted him, saying, "The house of books is quiet and without business—there you may nourish your nature." That autumn a Hanlin Attendant Reader academician post was specially established; he was ordered to serve together with Xiahou Qiao and Lü Wenshong; a banquet was granted at the Secret Library and he was also praised with a poem.
38
未幾，以足疾請告，上取名藥以賜。 郊祀不及扈從，錫齎如侍祠之例。 車駕北巡，徽之力疾辭於苑中。 上顧謂曰：「卿勉進醫藥，比見，當不久也。」 及駐蹕大名，特降手詔存諭。 明年春正月，車駕還，又遣使臨問。 卒，年八十。 贈兵部尚書，賜其家錢五十萬，絹五百匹。 錄其外孫宋綬太常寺太祝，侄孫偃、集並同學究出身。
Before long, citing foot ailment he requested leave; the emperor selected famous medicines and granted them. Unable to accompany the suburban sacrifice, he received gifts according to the precedent for those attending the rites. When the imperial carriage toured north, Huizhi, though ill, declined in the palace garden. The emperor turning to him said, "Sir, take your medicines diligently; when we next meet, it should not be long." When the halt was made at Daming, a special handwritten edict was sent down to comfort and reassure him. In the first month of the following spring, when the imperial carriage returned, another envoy was sent to inquire after him. He died, aged eighty. He was posthumously honored as Minister of War; his family was granted five hundred thousand cash and five hundred bolts of silk. His grandson by a daughter Song Shou was recorded as Director of Solemnity in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; his grand-nephews Yan and Ji were both given the jinshi-by-study status.
39
徽之純厚清介，守規矩，尚名教，尤疾非道以幹進者。 嘗言：「溫仲舒、寇準用搏擊取貴位，使後輩務習趨競，禮俗浸薄。」 世謂其知言。 徽之寡諧於俗，唯李昉、王祐深所推服，與石熙載、李穆、賈黃中為文義友。 自為郎官、御史，朝廷即待以舊德。 善談論，多識典故，唐室以來士族人物，悉能詳記。 酷好吟詠，每對客論詩，終日忘倦。 既沒，有集二十卷留於家，上令夏侯嶠取之以進。 徽之無子。 後徽之妻王卒，及葬，復以緡帛賜其家。
Huizhi was pure-hearted and incorruptible; he kept to rules and measured conduct, honored orthodox teaching, and especially despised those who used improper means to press for advancement. He once said, "Wen Zhongshu and Kou Zhun used aggressive attack to win exalted rank, causing later generations to devote themselves to scrambling competition, and ritual custom gradually grew thin." The age called this knowing speech. Huizhi had little harmony with vulgar ways; only Li Fang and Wang You deeply admired and submitted to him; with Shi Xizai, Li Mu, and Jia Huangzhong he was friends united in literary principle. From the time he became a bureau director or censor, the court already treated him with respect for established virtue. He was skilled in discussion, knew many historical precedents, and could detail and recall all clansmen and figures since the Tang dynasty. He ardently loved chanting and composition; whenever facing guests in discussion of poetry he forgot fatigue for a whole day. After his death a collected works of twenty juan remained in his household; the emperor ordered Xiahou Qiao to fetch it and present it. Huizhi had no sons. Later Huizhi's wife Wang died; upon her burial silk and cash were again granted to the family.
40
澈，字晏如，徽之宗人也，世家建陽。 父思進，晉天福中北渡海，因家於青州之北海，累佐使幕。 澈幼聰警，七歲讀《春秋左氏傳》，即曉大義。 周宰相李穀召令默誦，一無遺誤，穀甚異之。 年十六，思進為鎮趙從事，會昭慶令缺，使府命澈假其任。 時河決鄰郡，府督役甚急。 澈部徒數千，徑大澤中，多蘆葦，令采刈為筏，順流而下。 既至，執事者訝以後期，俄而葦筏繼至，駭而問之，澈以狀對，乃更嗟賞。
Che, courtesy name Yanru, was a clansman of Huizhi; his family for generations had been based in Jianyang. His father Sijin, during the Tianfu era of Jin crossed north by sea and settled the family in Beihai in Qing Prefecture; he repeatedly served as aide on commissioners' staffs. Che from youth was keen and alert; at seven, reading the Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals, he immediately grasped its broad meaning. Zhou chief minister Li Gu summoned him and ordered him to recite from memory—without a single omission or error; Li was greatly struck. At age sixteen Sijin was an aide on the Zhen Prefecture staff; when the magistrate of Zhaoqing fell vacant, the commissioner's office ordered Che to act in the post. At the time a river burst its banks in a neighboring prefecture and the commissioner's office pressed corvée labor with great urgency. Che directed several thousand corvée laborers through a great marsh rich in reeds and ordered them to cut and harvest reeds to make rafts and float downstream. When he arrived, those in charge were astonished at his lateness; but soon the reed rafts came in succession; startled, they inquired, and Che answered with the facts—they then admired him all the more.
41
建隆初，舉進士，時竇儀典貢部，謂澈文詞敏速，可當書檄之任。 調補河內主簿，再遷青州司戶參軍。 知州張全操多不法，澈鞫獄平允，無所阿畏。 太祖知其名，召試禁中，改著作佐郎，出知渠州。 江南平，改通判虔州，令就大將曹彬分兵以行。 既入境，偽帥郭再興擁兵自固，澈單騎直趨其壘，諭以朝廷威信，再興即奉符以代。 澈悉料城中軍士之勇壯者，凡五百人為一綱，部送京師。 土豪黎、羅二姓，聚眾依山謀亂，澈率兵平之，擒二豪，械送闕下。
At the beginning of Jianlong he passed the jinshi examination; Dou Yi then presided over the examination bureau and said Che's literary style was swift and able—fit for dispatch-writing duties. Assigned as recorder of Henei, he was again promoted to revenue section aide of Qing Prefecture. Prefect Zhang Quancao committed many illegal acts; Che tried cases with fair judgment and showed no partial favor or fear. Taizu knew his name, summoned him for examination within the palace, transferred him to assistant compiler, and sent him out as prefect of Qu Prefecture. When Jiangnan was pacified he was changed to supervisory commissioner of Qian Prefecture and ordered to join the great general Cao Bin with a division of troops. Once he entered the territory, the false commander Guo Zaixing held troops and fortified himself; Che alone on horseback rode straight to his camp, admonished him with the court's authority and prestige, and Zaixing at once surrendered his seal for replacement. Che fully assessed the brave and strong soldiers in the city, grouped them five hundred per unit, and escorted them to the capital. Local magnates of the Li and Luo clans gathered crowds in the mountains plotting rebellion; Che led troops and pacified them, captured the two magnates, and sent them in fetters to court.
42
遷右贊善大夫、知淄州。 事親以孝聞，求便侍養，徙同判青州。 三遷祠部員外郎，復知淄州，又知舒州，累轉祠部郎中。 咸平初，遴選王府僚佐，以澈為雍王府記室參軍，賜金紫，加度支郎中。
He was promoted to Right Supporter Grandee and prefect of Zi Prefecture. Renowned for filial service to parents, he requested a convenient post to attend them and was moved to co-commissioner of Qing Prefecture. Three times promoted to outer bureau director of the Ministry of Rites; again prefect of Zi, then of Shu; cumulatively transferred to bureau director of the Ministry of Rites. At the beginning of Xianping, selecting staff for the princely establishment, Che was made registrar of the Yong Prince's household, granted gold-and-purple insignia, and given the added post of bureau director of the Revenue Section.
43
景德初，車駕幸澶淵，王為東京留守，澈遷兵部郎中，充留守判官。 軍巡囚逸，王驚而感疾，及薨，又得閨門殘忍之狀，坐輔導不善免官。 未幾，起為祠部郎中。 卒，年七十四。 子巒，淳化進士，職方員外郎。
At the beginning of Jingde, when the imperial carriage visited Chanyuan, the prince remained in charge at the Eastern Capital; Che was moved to bureau director of the Ministry of War and appointed judge of the garrison staff. A military patrol prisoner escaped; the prince was alarmed and fell ill; when he died, evidence also emerged of cruel conduct within the inner quarters; Che was punished for poor guidance and stripped of office. Before long he was recalled as bureau director of the Ministry of Rites. He died, aged seventy-four. His son Luan, a jinshi of the Chunhua era, served as outer bureau director of the Bureau of Appointments.
44
呂文仲
Lü Wenshong
45
呂文仲，字子臧，歙州新安人。 父裕，偽唐歙州錄事參軍。 文仲在江左，舉進士，調補臨川尉，再遷大理評事，掌宗室書奏。 入朝，授太常寺太祝，稍遷少府監丞。 預修太平《御覽》、《廣記》、《文苑英華》，改著作佐郎。 太平興國中，上每御便殿觀古碑刻，輒召文仲與舒雅、杜鎬、吳淑讀之。 嘗令文仲讀《文選》，繼又令讀《江海賦》，皆有賜齎。 以本官充翰林侍讀，寓直御書院，與侍書王著更宿。 時書學葛湍亦直禁中，太宗暇日，每從容問文仲以書史、著以筆法、湍以字學。 雍熙初，文仲遷著作佐郎，副王著使高麗。 復命改左正言，巡撫福建。 未幾，賜金紫，加左諫議大夫。
Lü Wenshong, courtesy name Zizang, was from Xin'an in She Prefecture. His father Yu was recorder of She Prefecture under the false Tang. Wenshong in the lands east of the Yangtze passed the jinshi examination, was assigned as magistrate of Linchuan, again promoted to appraiser of the Court of Judicial Review, and directed memorials of the imperial clan. Entering court service he was appointed Director of Solemnity in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and gradually promoted to assistant director of the Court of the Imperial Manufactories. He participated in compiling the Taiping Imperial Digest, Extensive Record, and Wen yuan ying hua, and was transferred to assistant compiler. During Taiping Xingguo whenever the emperor visited the Informal Hall to view ancient stelae and inscriptions, he would summon Wenshong with Shu Ya, Du Gao, and Wu Shu to read them. Once he ordered Wenshong to read the Wen xuan; afterward ordered him to read the Jianghai fu—both times gifts were granted. With his existing office he served as Hanlin Attendant Reader, lodged on duty at the Imperial Calligraphy Academy, and alternated night watches with calligraphy attendant Wang Zhuo. At the time calligraphy student Ge Tuan also served within the palace; on Emperor Taizong's leisure days he would at ease question Wenshong on books and history, Zhuo on brush technique, and Tuan on character study. At the beginning of Yongxi Wenshong was promoted to assistant compiler and served as deputy to Wang Zhuo on the mission to Goryeo. Upon return from the mission he was made Left Rectifier and toured and pacified Fujian. Before long he was granted gold-and-purple insignia and given the added post of Left Remonstrance Grandee.
46
淳化中，與陳堯叟並兼關西巡撫使。 時內品方保吉專幹榷酤，威制郡縣。 民疲吏擾，變易舊法，訟其掊克者甚眾。 文仲等具奏其實，太宗怒甚。 亟召保吉，將劾之，反為保吉所訟，下御史驗問。 文仲所坐皆細事，而素巽懦，且恥與保吉辨對，因自誣伏，遂罷職。 既而太宗知其由，復令直秘閣； 逾月，再為侍讀。 一日，召於崇政殿，讀上草書經史故實數十軸，詔模刻於石。 遷起居舍人、兵部員外郎、同判吏部銓，知銀臺通進封駁司、審官院。 咸平三年，拜工部郎中，充翰林侍讀學士，受詔集太宗歌詩為三十卷，詔書加獎，又知審刑院。 六年，授御史中丞。
During Chunhua he and Chen Yaosou together concurrently served as touring commissioners of Guanxi. At the time the inner palace attendant Fang Baoji exclusively managed the salt-and-wine monopoly and held counties and prefectures in the grip of his authority. The people were exhausted and officials harassed; he changed the old regulations, and lawsuits accusing him of extortion were very numerous. Wenshong and the others fully memorialized the facts; Emperor Taizong was greatly angered. He quickly summoned Baoji intending to impeach him, but instead was sued by Baoji and the case was sent to the censorate for investigation. The offenses Wenshong was charged with were all petty matters; but he was by nature submissive and timid, and moreover ashamed to argue face to face with Baoji, so he falsely confessed on his own and was thereupon dismissed from office. Before long Emperor Taizong learned the truth of the matter and again appointed him to serve at the Secretariat Pavilion. A month later he was again made attendant reader. One day he was summoned to Chongzheng Hall, where he read aloud to the emperor several dozen scrolls of cursive historical anecdotes drawn from the classics; an edict then ordered the texts carved in stone. He was promoted to palace diarist and vice director of the Ministry of War, concurrently supervised the Ministry of Personnel's selection office, and directed the Yintai Directorate for Memorial Submission and Seal Verification and the Bureau for Review of Appointments. In the third year of Xianping he was appointed director of the Ministry of Works and Hanlin Attendant Reader Academician, tasked by imperial edict to compile Emperor Taizong's lyric poems into thirty scrolls; the court issued a commendation, and he also took charge of the Bureau for Review of Punishments. In the sixth year he was made vice censor-in-chief.
47
景德中，鞫曹州姦民趙諫獄。 諫多與士大夫交遊，內出姓名七十餘人，令悉窮治。 文仲請對，言逮捕者眾，或在外郡，苟悉索之，慮動人聽。 上曰：「卿執憲，當嫉惡如仇，豈公行黨庇邪？」 文仲頓首曰：「中司之職，非徒繩糾愆違，亦當顧國家大體。 今縱七十人悉得姦狀，以陛下之慈仁，必不盡戮，不過廢棄而已。 但籍其名，更察其為人，置於冗散，或舉選對揚之日擯斥之，未為晚也。」 上從其言。 三年，遷工部侍郎，復為翰林侍讀學士。
During the Jingde era he tried the case of Zhao Jian, a scoundrel from Caozhou. Jian had extensive ties to literati and officials; the court produced a list of more than seventy names from within and ordered them all pursued to the end. Wenshong requested an audience, arguing that many were marked for arrest, some in distant prefectures, and that a sweeping roundup would alarm the country. The emperor said, "You hold the scales of justice. You should hate wickedness as you would a mortal enemy—would you openly protect a clique instead?" Wenshong kowtowed and said, "The censorate exists not only to punish wrongdoing—it must also weigh the larger interests of the realm. Even if all seventy were proved guilty, Your Majesty's mercy would surely spare their lives—they would at worst be discarded from office. Register their names, watch their conduct, assign them to idle posts, or exclude them when examinations and imperial audiences come round—that would be time enough." The emperor accepted his counsel. In the third year he was promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Works and again made Hanlin Attendant Reader Academician.
48
文仲久居禁近，頗周密兢慎。 一日早朝，暴得風疾，請告逾百日，詔續其奉。 明年，改刑部侍郎，充集賢院學士，未幾卒，錄其子永為奉禮郎。
Wenshong had long served within the inner palace and was meticulous and cautious in all he did. One morning at court he was suddenly struck by paralysis; he took leave for more than a hundred days, and the emperor ordered his salary continued. The following year he became vice director of the Ministry of Justice and academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies; he died shortly after, and his son Yong was granted the rank of ceremonial attendant.
49
文仲富詞學，器韻淹雅。 其使高麗也，善於應對，清淨無所求，遠俗悅之。 後有使高麗者，必詢其出處。 然性頗齷齪，不為時論所許。 有集十卷。
Wenshong was deeply learned in letters, with a refined and graceful bearing. As envoy to Goryeo he answered every challenge with grace, asked for nothing, and won over a foreign court. Later envoys to Goryeo were invariably asked where he had come from. Yet by nature he was petty and narrow-minded, and won little esteem among his contemporaries. His collected works ran to ten scrolls.
50
王著，字知微，文仲同時人。 自言唐相石泉公方慶之後，世家京兆渭南。 祖賁，廣明中從僖宗入蜀，遂為成都人。 賁仕王建，為雅州刺史。 父景瓌，萬州別駕。 著，偽蜀明經及第，歷平泉、百丈、永康主簿。 蜀平赴闕，授隆平主簿，凡十一年不代。 著善攻書，筆跡甚媚，頗有家法。 太宗以字書訛舛，欲令學士刪定，少通習者。 太平興國三年，轉運使侯陟以著名聞，改衛寺丞、史館祗候，委以詳定篇韻。 六年，召見，賜緋，加著作佐郎、翰林侍書與侍讀，更直於御書院。
Wang Zhuo, courtesy name Zhiwei, lived in the same era as Wenshong. He claimed descent from the Tang chancellor Fang Qing, Duke of Shiquan, from a long-established family in Weinan, near the capital. His grandfather Ben followed Emperor Xizong into Shu during the Guangming era and settled in Chengdu. Ben served Wang Jian as prefect of Ya Prefecture. His father Jinggui was vice governor of Wan Prefecture. Zhuo passed the classics examination in Later Shu and served successively as registrar at Pingquan, Baizhang, and Yongkang. After Shu fell he presented himself at court and was given the post of registrar at Longping, which he held for eleven years without relief. Zhuo was a master of calligraphy—his hand was graceful and bore the mark of a true family tradition. Emperor Taizong found the standard dictionaries riddled with errors and wished to have court scholars revise them, but few had the expertise. In the third year of Taiping Xingguo, Transport Commissioner Hou Zhi brought Zhuo's reputation to the court's attention; he was made assistant director of the Guard Office and attendant at the Historiography Institute and charged with revising the rhyme dictionary. In the sixth year he was summoned to audience, granted crimson robes, and given the titles of assistant compiler, Hanlin Attendant Calligrapher and Reader, with rotating duty at the Imperial Calligraphy Academy.
51
太宗聽政之暇，嘗以觀書及筆法為意，諸家字體，洞臻精妙。 嘗令中使王仁睿持御劄示著，著曰：「未盡善也。」 太宗臨學益勤，又以示著，著答如前。 仁睿詰其故，著曰：「帝王始攻書，或驟稱善，則不復留心矣。」 久之，復以示著。 著曰：「功已至矣，非臣所能及。」 其後真宗嘗對宰相語其事，且嘉著之善於規益，於侍書待詔中亦無其比。
In his moments away from governance Taizong devoted himself to reading and the art of the brush, mastering every school of calligraphy to exquisite perfection. Once he had the palace emissary Wang Renrui show Zhuo an imperial draft. Zhuo said, "This is not yet perfect." Taizong redoubled his practice and showed the work to Zhuo again; Zhuo gave the same answer. Renrui pressed him for an explanation. Zhuo said, "When an emperor first takes up the brush, sudden praise only teaches him to stop caring." Much later he showed it to Zhuo once more. Zhuo said, "The mastery is complete—your servant could never reach it." Later Emperor Zhenzong told his chief ministers the story and praised Zhuo's gift for honest counsel; among the court calligraphers none compared with him.
52
雍熙二年，遷左拾遺，使高麗。 端拱初，加殿中侍御史。 二年，與文仲同賜金紫。 明年，卒，特加賵賜，錄其子嗣復為奉禮郎。
In the second year of Yongxi he was promoted to Left Reminder and dispatched as envoy to Goryeo. At the opening of the Duangong era he was additionally made palace censor. In the second year he and Wenshong were together granted gold-and-purple insignia. He died the following year; the court granted special funeral gifts and enfeoffed his son Sifu as ceremonial attendant.
53
呂祐之
Lu Youzhi
54
呂祐之，字元吉，濟州鉅野人。 父文賛，本州錄事參軍。 祐之，太平興國初，舉進士，解褐大理評事、通判洋州。 改右贊善大夫，出為泰寧軍節度判官，移天雄軍。 召拜殿中侍御史，決獄西蜀。 還知貝州，換右補闕、直史館、同判吏部南曹，遷起居舍人。
Lu Youzhi, courtesy name Yuanji, was from Juye in Ji Prefecture. His father Wenzan was registrar of Ji Prefecture. Youzhi passed the jinshi examination at the opening of Taiping Xingguo and took his first post as judge of the Court of Judicial Review and deputy prefect of Yang. He was promoted to Right Supporter Grandee, then served as staff officer to the military commissioner of Taining and later transferred to Tianxiong. Summoned to court, he was made palace censor and sent to try cases in western Shu. On his return he governed Bei Prefecture, then became Right Supplementation Reminder with direct appointment to the Historiography Institute, concurrent supervisor of the Ministry of Personnel's southern bureau, and finally palace diarist.
55
端拱中，副呂端使高麗，假內庫錢五十萬以辦裝。 還，遇風濤，舟欲覆，祐之悉取所得貨沉之，即止。 復獻《海外覃皇澤詩》十九首，太宗嘉之，仍蠲其所貸。 淳化初，判戶部勾院，會分備三館職，以祐之與趙昂、安德裕並直昭文館。 俄以本官知制誥，賜金紫，同知貢舉。
During Duangong he served under Lu Duan as deputy envoy to Goryeo, borrowing five hundred thousand cash from the inner treasury for his equipage. On the return voyage a storm nearly capsized the ship; Youzhi threw all his goods overboard, and the tempest abated. He also presented nineteen poems titled "The Emperor's Grace Spreading Overseas"; Taizong praised them and cancelled his debt. At the start of Chunhua he headed the Household Ministry audit office; when the three academies were staffed anew, he was posted with Zhao Ang and An Deyu to the Zhaowen Pavilion. Soon he was made edict drafter while retaining his rank, granted gold-and-purple insignia, and appointed concurrent chief examiner.
56
有東野日宣者，祐之以妻族嘗薦舉之，坐鞫獄陳州不實，貶官，祐之亦降授殿中丞，再直史館。 未幾，復知制誥。 太宗嘗閱班簿，擇近臣舉官，睹祐之姓名，宰相因言其前坐舉無狀。 上曰：「此正可令贖過矣。」 即取祐之焉。
Youzhi had once recommended a wife's kinsman, Dongye Rixuan; when Rixuan was tried at Chen Prefecture for a false case and demoted, Youzhi was lowered to palace secretary and returned to the Historiography Institute. Before long he was again made edict drafter. Once when Taizong reviewed the roster to choose ministers who would recommend officials, he came upon Youzhi's name; the chief minister noted his earlier offense of recommending an unworthy man. The emperor said, "This is exactly the sort of case where a man should be allowed to redeem his past mistake." He chose Youzhi on the spot.
57
至道初，拜右諫議大夫，賜金紫，知審官院。 出知襄州，徙壽州。 真宗即位，轉給事中，復知襄州，移升州。 歲餘，又典襄陽。 歸，掌吏部選事，知通進、銀臺司，與呂文仲並拜工部侍郎、翰林侍讀學士。 自置侍讀、侍講，甚艱其選，至是裁七人。 祐之第其名氏，刻石於秘閣。
At the opening of Zhidao he was made Right Remonstrance Grandee, granted gold-and-purple insignia, and put in charge of the Bureau for Review of Appointments. He was sent out to govern Xiang Prefecture, then transferred to Shou. When Zhenzong came to the throne, Youzhi was made supervising censor, again governed Xiang, and was then transferred to Sheng Prefecture. A year later he was again put in charge of Xiangyang. On returning to court he took charge of Ministry of Personnel selections, directed the memorial submission and Yintai offices, and was jointly elevated with Lu Wenzhong to vice director of the Ministry of Works and Hanlin Attendant Reader Academician. Since the creation of the attendant reader and expositor posts, selection had been arduous—only seven men had ever held them. Youzhi ordered their names inscribed on stone in the Secretariat Pavilion.
58
祐之純謹長者，不喜趨競，所至無顯譽，備顧問，不能有所啟發。 會文仲以疾罷近職，祐之亦出為集賢院學士，仍並遷刑部侍郎。 景德四年，卒，年六十一。 有集三十卷。
Youzhi was a sincere and cautious man of steady character who shunned the scramble for advancement; he won no great fame wherever he served, and though he stood among the emperor's advisers, he seldom stirred fresh insight. When Wenshong fell ill and left his inner-court post, Youzhi too was posted to the Hall of Assembled Worthies; both men were concurrently promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Justice. He died in the fourth year of Jingde, at sixty-one. His collected works ran to thirty scrolls.
59
潘慎修
Pan Shenxiu
60
潘慎修，字成德，泉州莆田縣人。 父承祐，仕閩，後歸江南，仕李景，至刑部尚書致仕。 慎修少以父任為秘書省正字，累遷至水部郎中兼起居舍人。
Pan Shenxiu, courtesy name Chengde, was from Putian County in Quan Prefecture. His father Chengyou had served Min, then Jiangnan under Li Jing, retiring as minister of justice. Shenxiu entered government young through his father's privilege as a corrector in the Secretariat, rising to director of the Waterworks Ministry while also serving as palace diarist.
61
開寶末，王師征江南，李煜遣隨其弟從鎰入貢買宴錢，求緩兵。 留館懷信驛。 旦夕捷書至，邸吏督從鎰入賀。 慎修以為國且亡，當待罪，何賀也？ 自是每群臣稱賀，從鎰即奉表請罪。 太祖嘉其得禮，遣中使慰諭，供帳牢餼悉加優給。 煜歸朝，以慎修為太子右贊善大夫。 煜表求慎修掌記室，許之。 煜卒，改太常博士。 歷膳部、倉部、考功三員外，通判壽州，知開封縣，又知湖、梓二州。
At the end of Kaibao, as Song armies marched on Jiangnan, Li Yu sent Shenxiu with his brother Congyi to court with tribute and "banquet funds," hoping to stall the invasion. They were lodged at the Huaixin post station. Day after day victory dispatches arrived, and the hostel clerks pressed Congyi to go in and offer congratulations. Shenxiu protested: the realm was about to fall—this was a time for repentance, not congratulations. From then on, whenever the court celebrated a victory, Congyi submitted a memorial begging forgiveness instead. Emperor Taizu praised his grasp of propriety, sent a palace envoy to commend him, and saw that his lodgings and provisions were generously supplied. When Li Yu surrendered and came to court, Shenxiu was made Right Supporter Grandee to the heir apparent. Li Yu petitioned to keep Shenxiu as chief of his secretariat, and the request was granted. After Li Yu died, he was reassigned as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He served successively as vice director in the Commissariat, Granary, and Merit ministries, as deputy prefect of Shou, as magistrate of Kaifeng County, and as prefect of Hu and Zi.
62
淳化中，秘書監李至薦之，命以本官知直秘閣。 慎修善弈棋，太宗屢召對弈，因作《棋說》以獻。 大抵謂：「棋之道在乎恬默，而取舍為急。 仁則能全，義則能守，禮則能變，智則能兼，信則能克。 君子知斯五者，庶幾可以言棋矣。」 因舉十要以明其義，太宗覽而稱善。 俄與直昭文館韓援使淮南巡撫，累遷倉部、考功二部郎中。 咸平中，又副邢昺為兩浙巡撫使，俄同修起居注。 景德初，上言衰老，求外任。 真宗以儒雅宜留秘府，止聽解記注之職。 數月，擢為右諫議大夫、翰林侍讀學士。 從幸澶州，遘寒疾，詔令肩輿先歸。 明年正月，卒，年六十九。 賻錢二十萬，絹一百匹。
During Chunhua, Secretariat Director Li Zhi recommended him, and he was appointed to direct duty at the Secretariat Pavilion while retaining his rank. Shenxiu was an expert at go; Taizong often summoned him to play, and Shenxiu composed "An Essay on Go" and presented it to the throne. Its gist was this: "The art of go rests on stillness and restraint, yet knowing what to seize and what to surrender is everything. Benevolence preserves wholeness; righteousness holds the line; ritual enables adaptation; wisdom embraces every possibility; trustworthiness achieves victory. A gentleman who understands these five virtues may be said to understand go." He laid out ten principles to illustrate their meaning; Taizong read the essay and commended it. Shortly afterward he was sent with Han Yuan of the Zhaowen Pavilion to tour and pacify Huainan, and was promoted in turn to director of the Granary and Merit ministries. During Xianping he served under Xing Bing as deputy commissioner for the two Zhe circuits, and soon afterward was made compiler of the court diary. At the start of Jingde he petitioned that age had weakened him and asked for a post outside the capital. Zhenzong judged his erudition too valuable for the secretariat to lose and allowed him only to step down from compiling the court diary. A few months later he was elevated to Right Remonstrance Grandee and Hanlin Attendant Reader Academician. When he accompanied the emperor to Chanzhou he fell ill with a chill; the emperor ordered him carried home in a sedan ahead of the retinue. He died the following year in the first month, at sixty-nine. He was granted two hundred thousand strings in funeral gratuities and one hundred bolts of silk.
63
慎修疾雖亟，精爽不亂，託陳彭年草遺奏，不為諸子干澤，但以主恩未報為恨。 上憫之，錄其子汝士為大理評事，汝礪為奉禮郎。 令有司給舟載其柩歸洪州。
Though Shenxiu's illness was grave, his mind remained clear. He had Chen Pengnian draft his final memorial, seeking no favors for his sons—only lamenting that he had not yet repaid the emperor's grace. The emperor took pity and appointed his son Rushi as judicial reviewer in the Court of Judicial Review and Ruli as ceremonial attendant. He ordered the proper authorities to provide a boat to convey the coffin back to Hong Prefecture.
64
慎修風度醞藉，博涉文史，多讀道書，善清談。 先是，江南舊臣多言李煜暗懦，事多過實。 真宗一日以問慎修，對曰：「煜或懵理若此，何以享國十餘年？」 他日，對宰相語及之，且言慎修溫雅不忘本，得臣子之操，深嘉獎之。 當時士大夫與之遊者，咸推其素尚。 然頗恃前輩，待後進倨慢，人以此少之。 有集五卷。
Shenxiu cultivated an elegant, reserved manner. He ranged widely through literature and history, read extensively in Daoist texts, and excelled at refined conversation. Previously, former ministers of Jiangnan had often called Li Yu dim-witted and weak, and their accounts were mostly exaggerated. One day Emperor Zhenzong asked Shenxiu about this. Shenxiu replied, "If Yu were truly as muddled as they say, how could he have held his realm for more than ten years?" On another day, speaking with his chief ministers, the emperor related this and praised Shenxiu for his warm refinement and loyalty to his roots, saying he embodied the conduct proper to a minister—and deeply commended him. Scholars and officials who associated with him at the time all admired his steadfast character. Yet he leaned heavily on his seniority and treated juniors with cold arrogance; for this people held him somewhat cheap. He left a collected works in five juan.
65
汝士至工部員外郎，直集賢院。
Rushi eventually became vice director of the Ministry of Works and served on direct staff at the Hall of Assembled Worthies.
66
杜鎬，字文周，常州無錫人。 父昌業，南唐虞部員外郎。 鎬幼好學，博貫經史。 兄為法官，嘗有子毀父畫像，為旁親所訟，疑其法不能決。 鎬曰：「僧道毀天尊、佛像，可比也。」 兄甚奇之。 舉明經，解褐集賢校理，入直澄心堂。
Du Gao, courtesy name Wenchou, was from Wuxi in Chang Prefecture. His father Changye served Southern Tang as vice director of the Ministry of Works. From youth Gao loved learning and mastered the classics and histories with broad thoroughness. His elder brother served as a legal officer. Once a son defaced his father's portrait and was sued by kinsmen; his brother found the case unclear under existing law and could not decide it. Gao said, "When monks and Daoists deface images of the Heavenly Worthy or the Buddha, the offense is comparable." His elder brother was greatly impressed. After passing the mingjing examination, he entered service as collator at the Hall of Assembled Worthies and served on direct duty at the Hall of Clear Hearts.
67
江南平，授千乘縣主簿。 太宗即位，江左舊儒多薦其能，改國子監丞、崇文院檢討。 會將祀南郊，彗星見，宰相趙普召鎬問之。 鎬曰：「當祭而日食，猶廢； 況謫見如此乎？」 普言於上，即罷其禮。 翌日，遷著作佐郎，改太子左贊善大夫，賜緋魚。 歷殿中丞、國子博士，加秘閣校理。 太宗觀書秘閣，詢鎬經義，進對稱旨，即日改虞部員外郎，加賜金帛。 又問：「西漢賜與悉用黃金，而近代為難得之貨，何也？」 鎬曰：「當是時，佛事未興，故金價甚賤。」 又嘗召問天寶梨園事，敷奏詳悉。 再遷駕部員外郎，判太常禮院，與朱昂、劉承珪編次館閣書籍，虞部郎中，事畢，賜金紫，改直秘閣。 會修《太祖實錄》，命鎬檢討故事，以備訪問。
After Jiangnan was pacified, he was appointed chief clerk of Qiansheng County. When Emperor Taizong acceded, many former Jiangnan scholars recommended his talents, and he was appointed deputy director of the Directorate of Education and collator at the Court of Sacred Writings. As preparations were underway for a sacrifice at the Southern Suburban Altar, a comet appeared. Chief Minister Zhao Pu summoned Gao to consult him. Gao said, "When a sacrifice is scheduled and a solar eclipse occurs, the rite is still abandoned; How much more so when a banished star appears like this?" Pu reported this to the emperor, and the ceremony was canceled at once. The next day he was promoted to assistant compiler, then made grandee of left admonition for the heir apparent and granted the crimson robe and fish tally of rank. He served as palace censor and erudite of the Directorate of Education, and was additionally appointed collator of the Secret Archive. When Emperor Taizong reviewed books in the Secret Archive and questioned Gao on the classics, Gao's answers pleased him; that same day Gao was made vice director of the Ministry of Works and given additional gifts of gold and silk. He also asked, "In Western Han, imperial gifts were all paid in gold—why has gold become so scarce in recent times?" Gao replied, "In that era Buddhist institutions had not yet proliferated, so gold was very cheap." On another occasion the emperor questioned him about the Pear Garden entertainments of the Tianbao era, and Gao answered with exhaustive detail. He was promoted again to vice director of the Ministry of Rites and assigned to the Court of Ritual of the Grand Steward; together with Zhu Ang and Liu Chenggui he catalogued the palace library collections, then rose to director of the Ministry of Works. When the work was complete he was granted gold seal and purple robe and appointed to direct duty at the Secret Archive. During the compilation of the Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu, Gao was charged with investigating historical precedents for reference.
68
景德初，置龍圖閣待制，因以命錫鎬，加都官郎中。 從幸澶淵，遇懿德皇后忌日，疑軍中鼓吹之禮，時鎬先還備儀仗，命馳騎問之。 鎬以武王載木主伐紂，前歌後舞為對。 預修《冊府元龜》，改司封郎中。 四年，拜右諫議大夫、龍圖閣直學士，賜襲衣、金帶，班在樞密直學士下。 時特置此職，儒者榮之。
At the start of the Jingde era the post of attendant academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion was created, and Gao received the appointment along with promotion to director of the Ministry of Justice. When the emperor visited Chanyuan, the anniversary of Empress Yide's death fell during the campaign, raising doubts about military music and fanfare. Gao had already returned ahead to prepare the ceremonial guard, and the emperor sent a fast rider to consult him. Gao answered by citing King Wu, who marched against Zhou while carrying the spirit tablet of his father—singing in front and dancing behind. He took part in compiling the Prime Tortoise of the Book Treasury and was transferred to director of the Bureau of Enfeoffments. In the fourth year he was made right remonstrating grandee and direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, granted ceremonial robe and gold belt, with court rank below the direct academicians of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Because this post had been created especially for scholars, men of learning took it as a signal honor.
69
大中祥符中，同詳定東封儀注，遷給事中。 三年，又置本閣學士，遷鎬工部侍郎，充其職。 上日，賜宴秘閣，上作詩賜之，進秩禮部侍郎。 六年冬，卒，年七十六。 錄其子渥為大理寺丞及三孫官。
During the Dazhong Xiangfu era he helped determine the ritual protocols for the eastern feng sacrifice and was promoted to chief gentleman attendant. In the third year the Dragon Diagram Pavilion's academicians were established anew; Gao was promoted to vice minister of works and appointed to that post. On the day of his appointment the emperor hosted a banquet in the Secret Archive, composed a poem in his honor, and promoted him to vice minister of rites. He died in the winter of the sixth year, at the age of seventy-six. His son Wo was appointed assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review, and three grandsons were given government posts.
70
鎬博聞強記，凡所檢閱，必戒書吏云：「某事，某書在某卷、幾行。」 覆之，一無差誤。 每得異書，多召問之，鎬必手疏本末以聞，顧遇甚厚。 士大夫有所著撰，多訪以古事，雖晚輩、卑品請益，應答無倦。 年逾五十，猶日治經史數十卷，或寓直館中，四鼓則起誦《春秋》。 所居僻陋，僅庇風雨，處之二十載，不遷徙。 燕居暇日，多挈醪饌以待賓友。 性和易，清素有懿行，士類推重之。
Gao possessed vast learning and a formidable memory. Whenever he reviewed texts he would tell the clerks exactly where to find a passage: "Such-and-such matter is in such-and-such book, juan such-and-such, line such-and-such." When checked, not a single reference failed to match. Whenever the palace acquired a rare book the emperor would summon Gao; Gao would always write out by hand a full account of its provenance and content. The emperor favored him greatly. Scholars with writings often consulted him on antiquities, and even juniors of humble rank who came seeking instruction never found him weary of answering. Even after fifty he still read dozens of juan of classics and histories each day. When lodging on duty at the academy he would rise at the fourth watch to recite the Spring and Autumn Annals. His home was remote and mean, barely sheltering him from wind and rain; yet he lived there twenty years without moving. In his leisure at home he often set out wine and dishes to welcome friends. Easygoing by nature and frugal in living, he was known for upright conduct, and men of learning held him in high esteem.
71
查道，字湛然，歙州休寧人。 祖文徽，仕南唐至工部尚書。 父元方，亦仕李煜，為建州觀察判官。 王師平金陵，盧絳據歙州，遣使傳檄至郡，元方斬其使。 及絳擒，太祖聞元方所為，優獎之。 拜殿中侍御史、知泉州，卒。
Cha Dao, courtesy name Zhanran, was from Xiuning in She Prefecture. His grandfather Wenhui served Southern Tang, rising to minister of works. His father Yuanfang also served Li Yu as administrative aide to the Jianzhou observation commissioner. When the imperial army pacified Jinling, Lu Jiang seized She Prefecture and sent an envoy with a summons to the region. Yuanfang had the envoy executed. When Jiang was captured, Emperor Taizu learned what Yuanfang had done and praised and rewarded him generously. He was appointed palace attendant censor and prefect of Quanzhou, and died in office.
72
道幼沉嶷不群，罕言笑，喜親筆硯，文徽特愛之。 未冠，以詞業稱。 侍母渡江，奉養以孝聞。 母嘗病，思鱖羹，方冬苦寒，市之不獲。 道泣禱於河，鑿冰取之，得鱖尺許以饋。 又刲臂血寫佛經，母疾尋愈。 後數年，母卒，絕意名宦，遊五臺，將落發為僧。 一夕，震雷破柱，道坐其下，了無怖色，寺僧異之，咸勸以仕。
From childhood Dao was grave and uncommon, rarely laughing or speaking lightly, and loved to take up brush and ink. Wenhui doted on him especially. Before coming of age he was already known for his literary talent. He accompanied his mother across the Yangtze and became known for devoted filial care. When his mother fell ill she craved mandarin-fish soup; it was deep winter and bitter cold, and none could be found in the markets. Dao wept and prayed by the river, broke through the ice, caught a fish about a foot long, and presented it to her. He also cut his arm and copied a Buddhist sutra in his own blood; soon his mother recovered. A few years later, after his mother's death, he renounced all ambition for office, traveled to Mount Wutai, and prepared to take vows as a monk. One night thunder split a pillar while Dao sat beneath it without the slightest sign of fear. The monks marvelled and all urged him to enter official life.
73
端拱初，舉進士高第，解褐館陶尉。 曹彬鎮徐州，辟為從事，深被禮遇。 改興元觀察推官。 寇準薦其才，授著作佐郎。 淳化中，蜀寇叛，命道通判遂州。 召對，出御書曆，俾錄其課，給以實奉。 至道三年，有使兩川者，得道公正清潔之狀以聞，優詔嘉獎。 遷秘書丞，俄徙知果州。
At the start of the Duangong era he passed the jinshi examination with high marks and entered service as magistrate of Guantao. When Cao Bin governed Xuzhou he recruited Dao as a staff officer and treated him with great respect. He was transferred to administrative aide under the Xingyuan observation commissioner. Kou Zhun recommended his abilities, and he was appointed assistant compiler. During the Chunhua era, when bandits rebelled in Shu, Dao was appointed vice prefect of Suizhou. Summoned to audience, the emperor presented him with an imperial calendar, instructing him to record his performance evaluations and granting him full salary. In the third year of the Zhidao era an envoy to the Two Chuan reported on Dao's integrity and incorruptibility; the emperor issued a warm commendatory edict. He was promoted to secretary and soon appointed prefect of Guozhou.
74
時寇黨尚有伏岩谷依險為柵者，其酋何彥忠集其徒二百餘，止西充之大木槽，彀弓露刃。 詔書招諭之，未下，咸請發兵殄之。 道曰：「彼愚人也，以懼罪，欲延命須臾爾。 其黨豈無詿誤邪？」 遂微服單馬數僕，不持尺刃，間關林壑百里許，直趨賊所。 初悉驚畏，持滿外向。 道神色自若，踞胡床而坐，諭以詔意。 或識之曰：「郡守也，嘗聞其仁，是寧害我者。」 即相率投順羅拜，號呼請罪，悉給券歸農。 加賜袍帶驛奏，璽書褒諭。
Bandits still lurked in mountain ravines, holding fortified positions in difficult terrain. Their leader He Yanzhong gathered more than two hundred followers at Damucao in Xichong, bows strung and blades bared. An imperial edict of clemency was being prepared, but before it could be issued everyone urged sending troops to exterminate the bandits. Dao said, "They are foolish men who, fearing punishment, only wish to prolong their lives a little longer. Surely not every man among them is truly guilty?" Then, dressed plainly, he rode alone with only a few servants, carrying no weapon, and traveled a hundred li through forested ravines straight to the bandits' camp. At first they were all alarmed, bows drawn and aimed outward. Dao remained perfectly composed, sat on a folding camp chair, and explained the emperor's amnesty. Someone recognized him and said, "This is the prefect. I've heard he is humane—he would never harm us." At once they submitted in succession, prostrating themselves and begging forgiveness. Dao issued certificates to all and sent them back to farming. The court additionally granted him robe, belt, and relay-horse privileges for memorials; an imperial sealed letter praised his achievement.
75
咸平四年代歸，賜緋魚。 上言曰：「朝廷命轉運使、副，不惟審度金穀，蓋以察廉郡縣，庶臻治平，以召和氣。 今觀所至，或匪盡公，蓋無懲勸之科，致有因循之弊。 望自今每使回日，先令具任內曾薦舉才識者若干，奏絀貪猥者若干，朝廷議其否臧，以為賞罰。」 從之。 俄出知寧州。 會舉賢良方正之士，李宗諤以道名聞，策入第四等，拜左正言、直史館。 未幾，出為西京轉運副使。 六年，始令三司使分部置副，召入，拜工部員外郎、充度支副使，賜金紫。
In the fourth year of Xianping his term expired and he returned to court, receiving the crimson robe and fish tally. He memorialized the throne: "When the court appoints transport commissioners and their deputies, the aim is not only to audit revenue and grain, but also to inspect the integrity of prefectures and counties—so that good governance may prevail and harmony flourish. Yet commissioners now on tour are not always impartial, largely because there are no clear rewards and punishments, which breeds laxity and neglect. Henceforth, when each commissioner returns, require him first to report how many capable men he recommended and how many corrupt officials he impeached; let the court judge these accounts and reward or punish accordingly." The emperor approved. Soon afterward he was appointed prefect of Ningzhou. During a recruitment of worthy and upright scholars, Li Zong'e nominated Dao, whose policy essay placed in the fourth rank. Dao was appointed left corrective speaker with direct duty at the Historiography Academy. Before long he was appointed deputy transport commissioner of the Western Capital. In the sixth year the court first established deputy commissioners under subdivisions of the Three Departments. Dao was summoned back, appointed vice director of the Ministry of Works and deputy fiscal commissioner, and granted gold seal and purple robe.
76
道儒雅迂緩，治劇非所長。 卞袞為鹽鐵副使，與道同候對，將升殿，遽出奏牘請道同署。 及上詢問事本，道素未省視，不能對，遂以本官罷，出知襄州。 卒不能自辯，亦無慍色。
Dao was scholarly and deliberate—managing urgent affairs was not his strength. Bian Gun, deputy salt-and-iron commissioner, was waiting with Dao for audience. Just before entering the hall Bian suddenly produced a memorial and asked Dao to co-sign it. When the emperor questioned him about the matter, Dao—who had never read the document—could not answer. He was removed from his post and appointed prefect of Xiangzhou. He never offered a defense, yet showed not the least sign of resentment.
77
大中祥符元年，歸直史館，遷刑部員外郎，預修《冊府元龜》。 三年，進秩兵部，為龍圖閣待制，與張知白、孫奭、王曙並命焉。 加刑部郎中、判吏部選事，糾察在京刑獄。 奉使契丹，以久次，進右司郎中。 真宗退朝之暇，召馮元講《易》便坐，惟道與李虛己、李行簡預焉。
In the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu he returned to direct duty at the Historiography Academy, was promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Justice, and took part in compiling the Prime Tortoise of the Book Treasury. In the third year he was promoted to the Ministry of War and appointed attendant academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, along with Zhang Zhibai, Sun Shi, and Wang Shu. He was additionally made director of the Ministry of Justice, assigned to oversee personnel selection at the Ministry of Personnel, and charged with inspecting capital criminal cases. After serving as envoy to the Khitan, he was promoted to director of the right division on account of long service. When Emperor Zhenzong had leisure after court, he summoned Feng Yuan to lecture on the Changes at the informal seat; Dao alone, with Li Xuji and Li Xingjian, was admitted.
78
天禧元年，以耳聵難於對問，表求外任，得知虢州。 將行，上御龍圖閣飲餞之。 秋，蝗災民歉，道不候報，出官廩米賑之，又設粥糜以救饑者，給州麥四千斛為種於民，民賴以濟，所全活萬餘人。 二年五月，卒，訃聞，真宗軫惜之。 詔其子奉禮郎循之乘傳往治喪事，遷大理評事，賦祿終制。
In the first year of Tianxi, finding his deafness made court audiences difficult, he petitioned for an outside appointment and was made prefect of Guozhou. Before his departure the emperor entertained him with a farewell feast at the Dragon Diagram Pavilion. That autumn a locust plague left the people short of grain. Dao, without waiting for authorization, issued government store rice for relief, set up gruel kitchens for the starving, and distributed four thousand hu of prefectural wheat as seed. More than ten thousand lives were saved. In the fifth month of the second year he died; when word reached court, Emperor Zhenzong grieved deeply. The emperor ordered his son Xunzhi, a chamberlain for ritual, to travel by relay horse to oversee the funeral, promoted him to evaluator of the Court of Judicial Review, and granted salary through the mourning period.
79
道性淳厚，有犯不較，所至務寬恕，胥吏有過未嘗笞罰，民訟逋負者，或出己錢償之，以是頗不治。 嘗出按部，路側有佳棗，從者摘以獻，道即計直掛錢於樹而去。 兒時嘗戲畫地為大第，曰：「此當分贍孤遺。」 及居京師，家甚貧，多聚親族之煢獨者，祿賜所得，散施隨盡，不以屑意。 與人交，情公切至，廢棄孤露者，待之愈厚，多所周給。
Dao was naturally mild and magnanimous, never retaliating when wronged. Everywhere he served he favored leniency: clerks who erred were never flogged, and he sometimes paid out of his own purse to settle citizens' debt suits—so his administration tended toward laxity. Once while touring his district he came upon fine jujubes beside the road. When attendants picked some as a gift, he calculated a fair price and hung the coins on the tree before leaving. As a boy he once traced a great mansion in the dirt and said, "This is to be shared among orphans and the bereft." In the capital his household was desperately poor, yet he took in many bereft kinsmen. Salary and gifts he handed out as fast as they arrived, without a thought for himself. In friendship he was wholly devoted; toward the abandoned and friendless he was still more generous, aiding them lavishly.
80
初，赴舉，貧不能上，親族裒錢三萬遺之。 道出滑臺，過父友呂翁家。 翁喪，貧窶無以葬，其母兄將鬻女以襄事。 道傾褚中錢與之，且為其女擇婿，別加資遣。 又故人卒，貧甚，質女婢於人。 道為贖之，嫁士族。 搢紳服其履行。 好學，嗜弈棋，深信內典。 平居多茹蔬，或止一食，默坐終日，服玩極於卑儉。 嘗夢神人謂曰：「汝位至正郎，壽五十七。」 而享年六十四，論者以為積善所延也。 有集二十卷，從兄陶。
When he first set out for the civil examinations he was too poor to go; kinsmen pooled thirty thousand cash and gave it to him. On his way Dao passed through Huatai and called on his father's friend Old Master Lü. The old man had died, leaving the family too poor for burial; Lü's wife's elder brother meant to sell a daughter to pay for the funeral. Dao emptied his purse for them, found a husband for the daughter, and added a separate dowry besides. Another old friend died in such poverty that his family had pledged a maidservant as security. Dao redeemed the girl and married her into a gentry family. Officials and gentry alike admired his conduct. He loved learning, was devoted to weiqi, and was a devoted student of Buddhist sutras. He lived chiefly on vegetables, sometimes taking only one meal a day, and would sit in silent meditation from dawn to dusk. His dress and possessions were almost absurdly plain. He once dreamed that a spirit told him, "You will rise to the rank of director in the proper bureau and live fifty-seven years." Yet he lived to sixty-four; later writers attributed the extra years to the merit he had stored up. He left a collection in twenty juan. His cousin Tao [follows].
81
從兄陶
Cousin: Tao
82
陶，字大均，初事李煜，以明法登科，補常州錄事參軍。 歸朝，詔大理評事，試律學，除本寺丞，遷大理正，歷侍御史、權判大理寺，賜緋。 斷官仲禹錫訟陶用法非當，陶抗辯得雪。 遷工部郎中，俄知台州，累遷兵部。 咸平五年，朱博為大理，議趙文海罪不當，宰相請以陶代。 真宗曰：「聞陶亦深文，當加戒勖。」 即遷秘書少監、判寺事。 時楊億知審刑，陶屢攻其失，又命代之，賜金紫。 陶持法深刻，用刑多失中，前後坐罰金百餘斤，皆以失入，無誤出者。 景德三年，卒，年七十。
Tao, courtesy name Dajun, first served Li Yu. He passed the examination in statutory law and was appointed recorder-assistant of Changzhou. After surrender to the Song he was made evaluator of the Court of Judicial Review, examined in statutory studies, appointed director within the court, promoted to chief of the court, and served successively as attending censor and acting chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review, receiving the crimson robe. The sentencing officer Zhong Yu sued Tao for misapplying the statutes; Tao defended himself successfully and was exonerated. He was promoted to director of the Ministry of Works, soon appointed prefect of Taizhou, and eventually rose to the Ministry of War. In the fifth year of Xianping Zhu Bo headed the Court of Judicial Review and ruled Zhao Wenhai's offense improperly classified; the chief minister asked that Tao replace him. Emperor Zhenzong said, "I hear Tao also applies the law harshly; he should be sternly warned." He was then appointed vice director of the Secretariat with acting charge of the Court of Judicial Review. Yang Yi then headed the Office of Reviewing Punishments; Tao repeatedly exposed his mistakes, was again ordered to replace him, and received gold seal and purple robe. Tao applied the law with pitiless severity and often overshot the mark. He was fined more than a hundred jin of gold on repeated occasions, always for convicting too harshly, never for letting the guilty go free. He died in the third year of Jingde, at seventy.
83
子：拱之，淳化三年進士，後為都官郎中； 慶之，太子中舍。
His sons: Gongzhi, a jinshi of Chunhua 3, later director of the Office for Regulating Officials; and Qingzhi, middle attendant of the heir apparent.
84
論曰：典誥命者，以詞章典雅為先； 侍講讀者，以道德洽聞為貴。 自昔皆難其人，至宋尤重其選。 太宗崇尚儒術，聽政之暇，以觀書為樂，置翰林侍讀學士以備顧問。 真宗克紹先誌，兼置侍講學士，且因內閣以設職名，俾鴻碩之士更直迭宿，相與從容講論。 以丕之清介，頑之和豫，顥之明敏，茂直之淳厚，俾領詞職，固無忝矣。 若文仲之器韻淹雅，慎修之醞藉該貫，杜鎬之博聞強識，查道之純孝篤義，置諸左右，啟沃尤多，豈直講論文義而已哉。 若祐之不喜趨競，徽之深疾幸進，風采凝峻，又其卓然者也。 徽之嘗謂：「溫仲舒、寇準以搏擊取貴位，使後輩務習趨競，禮俗浸薄。」 君子以為名言云。
Commentary: For drafters of edicts and commands, elegance of style comes first; for palace lecturers and readers, moral authority widely respected is prized. Finding the right men has always been difficult; the Song court valued the choice still more highly. Emperor Taizong esteemed Confucian learning; in leisure from governing he took books as his delight and established Hanlin attendant reader academicians as his advisors. Emperor Zhenzong carried on his father's design, adding palace lecturer posts and drawing on the inner secretariat to define their titles, so that eminent scholars rotated night duty in turn for unhurried discussion and debate. Han Pi's integrity, Shi Hang's geniality, Liang Hao's brilliance, and Zhang Maozhi's steadfastness made them fit leaders of the literary offices without disgrace to the post. Lu Wenzhong's cultivated grace, Pan Shenxiu's polished breadth, Du Gao's encyclopedic memory, and Cha Dao's filial devotion, set at the emperor's side, enriched counsel far beyond mere lectures on literary doctrine. Lu Youzhi's refusal to scramble for preferment and Yang Huizhi's revulsion at currying favor—their bearing grave and austere—marked them as still more exceptional. Huizhi once said, "Wen Zhongshu and Kou Zhun won high rank by bare-knuckle politics, teaching younger men to scramble for advancement until ritual and custom thinned away." Men of honor judged it a remark worth heeding.